PAIGC claims victory in parliamentary elections

The PAIGC, the armed liberation movement which led Guinea-Bissau to independence in 1973 and ruled the country until five years ago, has claimed victory in last Sunday’s parliamentary elections. Official results from Sunday’s poll have yet to be published, following complaints about irregularities in the vote by the Social Renovation Party (PRS) of former president Kumba Yala, who was deposed in a bloodless coup last September. However, Francisco Fadul, the leader of the United Social Democratic Party (PUSD), another major contender in the election, has publicly conceded defeat to the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde), which now appears set to form the next government. PAIGC leader Carlos Gomes Junior claimed victory for his party at a press conference on Thursday and promised that as Guinea-Bissau’s future prime minister he would form a broad-based government of national unity. This would embrace competent individuals from all political parties in this small West African country, he said. The PAIGC waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule and declared the independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1973, a year before Portuguese forces actually withdrew from the country. The liberation movement turned political party ruled the country until 1999, when Kumba Yala and his PRS were voted into power in internationally supervised elections after a brief but very destructive civil war. However, Yala’s government became increasingly chaotic and much of the support he initially commanded fell away quickly. He was eventually removed from power by the army last year after he dissolved parliament, but postponed the holding of fresh elections four times. The results of Sunday’s election for a new 12-seat parliament were initially delayed because many of the polling stations in the capital Bissau failed to receive ballot boxes and voting slips. As a result 89 of the city’s 520 polling stations were only able to open on Tuesday. However, following complaints of voting irregularities by the PRS, General Verissimo Seabra Correia, the head of the armed forces who led last year’s coup, asked the National Electoral Commission to delay the publication of results until their complaint had been settled. The delay in announcing results has led to rising tension in this poor country of 1.3 million people, whose main export is cashew nuts. A source in the National Electoral Commission told IRIN on Friday that the results were now complete, but Seabra Correia had demanded a further delay in their announcement until Saturday. A ministerial delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) flew in on Thursday to persuade all parties involved to accept the outcome of the election. It held talks with Interim President Henrique Rosa, Correia Seabra, the electoral authorities and the leaders of Guinea-Bissau’s main political parties late into the night. The delegation comprised Ghanaian Foreign Minister Nana Akuffo Addo, his Senegalese counterpart Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Nigeria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saidu Balarabe and ECOWAS Executive Secretary Mohammed Ibn Chambas. On Friday morning the ECOWAS team issued a statement urging the authorities to publish the results of the election as soon as possible. It also appealed to those parties which emerged as losers to accept the outcome with good grace. The statement also urged all the 15 parties and coalition groupings which took part in the election to avoid behaviour that might threaten peace and national harmony. The French news agency AFP quoted the Ghanaian Foreign Minister as saying Seabra Correia had given guarantees that the army would remain neutral in the electoral process. AFP also quoted Akuffo Ado as telling reporters that: “ECOWAS will not allow another political and military crisis to erupt in Guinea-Bissau that could threaten stability in the sub-region.” ECOWAS forces intervened to help restore order after Guinea-Bissau lapsed into civil war between 1998 and 1999. The ECOWAS representatatives held a fresh round of talks with local political leaders on Friday afternoon. The parliamentary elections were monitored by a team of more than 100 international observers from various countries and international organisations. They issued a joint statement on Wednesday expressing satisfaction with the conduct of the poll. “The elections took place in a free, fair and transparent manner, contributing towards the consolidation of the democratic process in Guinea-Bissau,” the observers said. They appealed to Guinean political leaders to “scrupulously accept” the outcome of the poll and urged the international community to “strengthen its support to Guinea-Bissau in order to contribute to its political stability and socio-economic development and the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law.”